Obituaries

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Deacon Miguel Valle

Class of 1996

Deacon Miguel Valle died from a heart attack on May 19. He was ordained in 1996 and served at St. Wenceslaus Parish.

Deacon Valle was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and was the eldest of five children.

He was a longtime collaborator with Chicago Católico, writing notes and articles, and he hosted a radio show called “Compartiendo Nuestra Fe Católica.” He was known for organizing prayer groups, courses and workshops for the Hispanic Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and he organized trips to the Holy Land.

Deacon Valle owned Nazareth, a bookstore that specialized in religious material where, with the archdiocese’s approval, he opened a small chapel.

“I lost one of the wisest people I ever met,” said Deacon Jaime Ríos of Valle. “Sometimes, instead of looking through my books to search for a quote or a story, I would call Miguel and he would say ‘Oh, it’s in such and such book, in such and such chapter.’”

Ríos added that Deacon Valle was a “walking library.”

“He had a tremendous knowledge of the Bible. He taught me so much,” he said.

Deacon Valle is survived by his mother and his four siblings.

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Sr. Therese Bernadette Zebrauskas

Educator, administrator

Sister of St. Casimir Therese Bernadette Zebrauskas, 91, died May 10 in Lemont.

Born in Chicago, she made her first religious profession in 1949 and her perpetual profession in 1954. 

She taught for 47 years at elementary schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister Therese Bernadette taught at Immaculate Conception School, Brighton Park (1949-1952); Nativity BVM School (1952-1954, 1963-1965, 1992-1996); St. Joseph School, South Chicago (1955-1956); St. Michael School, North Side (1956-1958); St. Norbert School, Northbrook (1968-1971, 1975-1977); All Saints School, Roseland (1971-1973); Sts. Peter and Paul School, West Pullman (1973-1974, 1977-1979); St. George School, Bridgeport (1974-1975); Providence of God School (1979-1985); and St. Anthony School, Cicero (1985-1992). She also served as assistant principal while at Providence of God School and at St. Anthony School.

Sister Therese Bernadette also ministered as a receptionist at Maria High School, Chicago, from 1996 to 2011.

She was a minister of prayer and presence from 2014 to 2019 at Franciscan Village in Lemont.

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Sr. Mary Christella Butrymowicz

Educator, community leader

Felician Sister Mary Christella (Joan) Butrymowicz, 90, died on May 11 at Our Lady of the Angels Convent in Chicago.

Born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, she joined the Felician Sisters aspirancy in Chicago, where she attended Good Counsel High School. She entered the Felician Sisters postulancy in 1945 and professed her final vows in 1953. 

She ministered in elementary schools as a teacher and principal in Illinois and Wisconsin. She also served in areas of religious formation and leadership within the Felician community and later ministered in the International Cord Rosary Center.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she ministered at Good Shepherd (1947-1953); St. Mary Magdalen (1953-1957); St. Wenceslaus (1957-1960); St. Linus, Oak Lawn (1960-1966); and St. James (1983-1987).

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Sr. Michaela Galvin

Educator

Providence Sister Michaela (Arline Clare) Galvin, 94, died May 15 in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. 

Born in Massachusetts, she entered the Sisters of Providence in 1943 and professed final vows in 1951.

She ministered in Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she served at St. Mel-Holy Ghost (1946); Maternity BVM (1946-1950), St. Leo (1951-1954), St. Andrew (1958-1962) and Mother Theodore Guerin High School, River Grove (1988-2000).

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Sr. Irene Marie Kerich

Educator

Adrian Dominican Sister Irene Marie (Mary Louise) Kerich, 94, died May 27 in Adrian, Michigan. She was 94 years of age and in the 77th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican congregation.

Born in Minnesota, she ministered in Michigan, Illinois, New Mexico and Ohio.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, she taught at St. Kevin and St. Clare of Montefalco.

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Fr. Thomas R. Brummel

Retired priest, educator

Claretian Missionary Father Thomas R. Brummel, 88, died May 29 in Chicago.

Born in Chicago, Father Brummel attended Dominguez Seminary and Loyola University in California and Gregorian University in Rome before being ordained in 1959. 

Father Brummel served as a teacher and professor at various educational institutes in California, New York, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. He also was a professor at the Claretian Institute of Philosophy and the Spiritan International School of Theology, both in Nigeria.

Until his retirement in 2009, he also served part-time at the Chicago parishes of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Paul.

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